Give Works Minister what he needs, Mather urges
Territorial At-Large Representative Stacy ‘Buddha’ Mather has made a passionate call for Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley to ensure that Communications and Works Minister Kye Rymer is equipped with the necessary resources to improve the BVI’s infrastructure.
In a compelling plea in the House of Assembly recently, Mather highlighted the urgent need for funding within the ministry to address the deteriorating roads and other critical infrastructure issues plaguing the territory. He emphasised the unique challenges the ministry faces, which, unlike other sectors, cannot rely on non-profit funding to carry out its functions.
“You have a member on your team begging, begging for money and looking bad in the public. Give them what they need, give them what they need because you’re not punishing the minister, you’re punishing everybody else,” Mather argued during the debate.
“We have another Standing Finance [Committee meeting] coming in November… and I am going to puff up my chest and, if I have to, drag my table over there [government benches in HOA] next to that gentleman over there with the fancy tie on his phone right now (Rymer). I am going to be a voice for him because he needs money to fix the roads,” Mather added.
Mather argued that while other ministries, such as Education and Health, might find alternate funding through audits or existing budgets, the Communications and Works Ministry solely depends on government allocations. “Our tourism industry has money, but everybody is saying we need to fix roads and infrastructure. Who is going to give that minister the money? It can only come from the Minister of Finance,” Mather stated.
Public frustration
The call for action comes amidst public frustration over cost of living issues, which Mather claims are exacerbated by inadequate public infrastructure. “Our people are kicking up because of the cost of living in the BVI, but yet we, as leaders, are making it harder for them,” he said.
He further mentioned the discussions around a potential loan, which was included in the budget speech earlier in the year and highlighted that the loan is yet to materialise. “We are coming into August… if we get a chance and we are still around in September, October will hit us, November, bram! Back in here for Standing Finance again, and we will be talking about the loan again, or will the minister be there begging for it? I am just trying to understand where we are going,” Mather stated.
Rymer has consistently pleaded for funding for his ministry to execute millions of dollars in rehabilitation works in the territory, but he has only been allocated a small sum.
“We have been trying our best to try to make the roads as best as possible,” Rymer said earlier this year. “And I know it’s very tough; the roads are in horrible condition, but we are working tirelessly to get them as comfortable as possible.”
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KYE WANT MONEY TO FINISH HIS PROJECTS IN D5 ALONE
Not without proper data, I am so disappointed in how they spend what they already have. Mather sounds crazy here.
If Hon Mather believes that the poor performance of the Hon. Rymer is due to a lack of resources then he more naive than I thought. He had resources for the market and take a look at it. He had resources for the road by government house and now it had to be dug up 300k later. He had resources for his economic zone and look at it. He had resources for the admin complex and only the rat’s could occupy the building. Those of us in the real world know that we could all do with more resources but you also have to put what you have to better use.
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We need an audit of the $11mil from admin complex insurance.
What has been spent to date, what is left and what other contracts are signed, to be signed etc. for completing the admin complex.
These are the questions the opposition lapse on in HOA. Only jumping up on the UK and don’t even know what happening in their own backyard.
Print money?
whenever british virgin islanders leave the british virgin islands with our british passport for the virgin islands and our british birth certificate for the virgin islands these legal and lawful documents are always stolen and taken away from british virgin islanders and then our identity is stolen and our british citizenship is stripped from our british passport for the virgin islands. the thief would use our photographs and our british passport for the virgin islands and our british birth certificate from the british virgin islands to commit identity theft. even though we are british dependent territory citizen/british overseas territory citizen we have no jobs and no housing here in the usa while we attend college and university here in the usa. we have no social security card, no employment authorization card, no work/employment visa/no permanent resident card so that a british virgin islander can have a job to earn college tuition fees; that is the only reason british virgin islander travel to the usa for, just to attend college and university and to pay college tuition fees. we enter the usa legally and lawfully; not to commit crime and violence. we did not enter the usa to become lawless and violent criminals. we enter the usa to pay our way legally and lawfull through college and university and stay away from crime and violence.
Mather is right! If the MCW Minister is subtly suggesting that finances are the hinderance for drastically improving the road infrastructure then the buck stops with the Ministwr of Finance. While Kye has done some eyebrows raising and questionable projects that scarce resources $$$ could have been spent better; Hon. Mather was discussing roads. Let’s not forget that monies were spent fixing up the lot by the Admin Conplex, questionable parties as well as other things.
There seems to be a severe lack of understanding how to strategically manage and control financial resources responsibly with Governments over the past 2/3 decades. All the MCW ministers (Paul P. Wattley) have been abject failures. Some focused solely on TRC, others faltered with sewerage and lack of strong leadership qualities. I mean look at our electricity generation and severe lack of implementing alternative energy – even on new build government projects!
Leadership matters and is lacking due to the select few wanting to maintain the status quo which is being eroded daily by the lack of leadership and governance.
The revolution will not be televised……
NO FUNDING OF CIVIL SERVICE RETIREMENT FUND SO RETIRED WORKERS ARE KEPT OH THE PAYROLL AT FULL PAY! GOVERNMENT AT THE LIMIT OF BORROWING OF FINANCIAL PROTOCOLS! NO AUDITS BECAUSE THEY WOULD SHOW THAT THERE ISN’T ANY WAY FOR GOVERNMENT TO PAY BACK A LOAN UNLESS THEY REDUCE THE GOVERNMENT EXPENSES WHICH WOULD REQUIRE REDUCING THE EMPLOYMENT BY 50% OR MORE, AT LEAST ALL THE RETIRED WORKERS WHO AREN’T ACTUALLY WORKING. There is no way that they can increase any Ministries budget because there isn’t any money and won’t be until some administration steps up and does what is needed, but will be very unpopular!!
“Our people are kicking up because of the cost of living in the BVI, but yet we, as leaders, are making it harder for them,”
Thats the problem. We vote people in to improve our quality of life, not reduce it.
Cannabis a medicinal herb which people can grow as easily as tomatoes still illegal, paving the way for adulterants to enter & mess up the community by importing a rejected product that can be grown here organically.
I like your talking points sir
i just hope when its your turn you dont turn tail like them
cuz you alrdy gimme a jump when you got up to fight that UK bill that encourages accountability and transparency
hopefully you dont be like the rest where they talk good outside of power but change tone when they get in smh
kye has a mouth ,and if he can holler out ” put down the Toy guns ” , why can’t he holler out at his BOSS ( hey bro it’s more than time we start doing what we were elected to do ) so he don’t need anybody to holler out for him , if he got two balls , then he needs to step up and be a man like Mr stoutt , unless he playing rodeo games too
Kye couldn’t manage a beer and wings party at Pussers, you expect him to properly manage a Ministry?
This dude already blown several millions with hardly anything to show…for example he took about 3 years working on an unfinished road across from the QE2 park
Last year, the UK government gave him $14m to spend on our roads. Where is that?
We need money for present and future projects but we must give account for unfinished projects. How can Joma and others build so many buildings and rent them to us and they are being paid to fix the Administration Building? Where is the admin.insurance and other monies?
is saying )> leh meh holler at you youth man , ah try b to relevant OK , kye say he tired beg U fO the $$$$ to do the people them WUK but U some place else , so help out the brothe nuH / them pot holes Geh-in DEEP- AH and only a * MATTER * AH time BEFO DAH SH*T WAR-TA LINK UP WID THEM POT-HOLDS and then we will be using dingys